A bill approved by Maryland lawmakers this week would change how the state compensates people who have been wrongly imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. Under current state law, payments are at the discretion of the Board of Public Works. If the proposal becomes law, an exoneree would apply to an administrative law judge, and compensation would be based on a formula set to the Maryland median household income. The judge also could provide other benefits, such as housing accommodations, health care and educational training. The bill has been sent to Governor Hogan for his signature.  

Allegany College of Maryland (ACM) invites new and current students to register for its summer session and fall 2021 semester. Academic advising and class registration for the summer full-term, summer A and B terms, and the fall semester opens on Monday, April 12. ACM’s summer session provides current ACM students and transient students (those who normally attend another college or university during the fall and spring semesters) the chance to choose from 110 sections of 79 ​courses. A-term and full-term summer courses begin on Monday, May 17 and end on Monday, June 21. B-term summer courses begin on Tuesday, June 22 and end on Tuesday,…

Maryland coach Brenda Frese was honored as The Associated Press women’s basketball coach of the year Wednesday for the second time in her career. Frese received eight votes from the 30-member national media panel that votes on the weekly AP Top 25. Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer and North Carolina State coach Wes Moore each received seven votes. “It’s special. Obviously its going to be one I never forget,” said Frese, who also was AP coach of the year 19 years ago when she was at Minnesota. “What makes it so special is having this journey through a pandemic with the most selfless…

The Cumberland Times News reports a two-vehicle crash was reported just before 7 a.m. Wednesday on state Route 135 near the former Verso Finished Product Warehouse building. Initial reports from the scene indicated one vehicle came to rest on its top in a ditch along the roadway.  Firefighters from Westernport and Piedmont and ambulances from Tri-Towns were also dispatched to the scene in the initial alert at 6:50 a.m. when multiple calls were made to report the accident to the Allegany County 911 emergency center. The Allegany County Sheriff's Office is investigating

Governor Larry Hogan today announced that, for the first time, more than 70,000 COVID-19 vaccinations have been reported in a single day in Maryland. In total, the state is reporting a record 70,373 new vaccinations—shattering all previous daily records. In addition, the state is reporting a new record seven-day average of 55,074 shots per day. A total of 2,689,924 doses have now been administered.

The City of Cumberland is targeted to receive approximately $20 million in federal stimulus dollars over the next year and a half, and preliminary discussions have begun taking place on how best to utilize those funds. Representatives from Cumberland, Frostburg and Allegany County got together Tuesday afternoon to go over the initial guidelines coming from the Federal Treasury Department. Cumberland City Administrator Jeff Rhodes, during the city’s regular work session, said that the focus is on infrastructure, tourism and broadband – and not on economic development projects…

When bids finally come in for the redesign of the downtown pedestrian mall, they are likely to exceed $10 million – double the original projections. In 2016, when the Cumberland City Council first  agreed to move forward with a plan to reopen the mall to vehicular traffic and limited parking, the estimated price tag for the project ranged from $3.7 to $5 million. Matt Miller, executive director of the Cumberland Economic Development Corporation, provided an update during the regular monthly meeting. With the project still not put out for bid, no firm estimate is available, but it seems the latest projection…

Appearing before the Senate Vaccine Oversight Workgroup this week, Maryland’s acting secretary of health described the rising COVID-19 case rate and the rate of vaccination as a “race against time."  Secretary Dennis Schrader reported that the state has given more than 2.6 million shots so far, but the focus remains on getting those shots into the right people and as quickly as possible…   More doses of COVID-19 vaccine are coming to Maryland this week, as Johnson & Johnson ramps up production. Schrader says that that among all three vaccines, the state expects in April to get a total of 450,000 doses…

The Allegany County Commissioners have signed a memorandum of understanding with “Tracks and Yaks," a railbiking business founded by Adam Forshee and his wife, Julie. Combining a love for the outdoors and rail biking, their goal is to begin operations in Frostburg utilizing an 8-to-10 mile portion of the Western Maryland Railway Company’s line.  Railbiking is basically riding pedal-powered machines along rail lines, an activity Adam describes as a rapidly expanding outdoor attraction…

WBAL reports President Joe Biden plans to nominate two women to the federal bench in Maryland. The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday that the White House has nominated Deborah Boardman and Lydia Griggsby to become U.S. District Court judges. Boardman is a magistrate judge. Griggsby is on the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Griggsby is a Baltimore native and former chief counsel for Sen. Patrick Leahy. She would be the first woman of color to serve as a judge on the district court in Maryland. Boardman spent 11 years as a member of the Office of the Federal Public Defender before becoming…